President Obama praised Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a joint “60 Minutes” interview recorded Friday, calling his outgoing cabinet star one of the greatest chief diplomats in U.S. history.

“I just wanted to have a chance to publicly say thank you, because I think Hillary will go down as one of the finest Secretaries of State we’ve had,” Obama said in the rare TV spot — the first time he’s done a joint interview with anyone besides his wife, Michelle, since reaching the White House.

The interview — which was excerpted Friday and will be aired in full on Sunday — is a testament to the strength of the Obama-Clinton alliance that was forged following their bitter Democratic primary campaign in 2008.

“In politics and in democracy, sometimes you win elections and sometimes you lose elections,” Clinton said, recounting what she’s told people the world over about the “improbable” alliance. “And I worked very hard and lost. And then President Obama asked me to be Secretary of State and I said yes. And why did I say yes? Because we both love our country.”

Kroft jovially complained in his opening remarks that he had been given just 30 minutes by the White House, which requested the interview. This, Kroft said, left him no time to delve into deep foreign policy issues. And it didn’t—not with all the touchy-feely questions that had to be explored first.

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